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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tomorrow is the first day that you can officially register for the ATHA Biennial which is being held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania this October. This is a BIG, BIG event! There is lots of buzzing going on about the classes and the great roster of over 20 teachers. I think there will be a huge response to the classes being offered, so if you are interested...tomorrow is THE date to mail in your registration and don't delay! The hotels have been booking up fast (I believe 3 hotels are already close to capacity). If you need a registration form, click on this link.

This is the project for my ATHA class. It is officially called Fancy Barn Symbol but my friend Kate calls it "Eight Ways To Thrill A Hooker." I think she's right! There are lots of different techniques and embellishments to try out.

1. Hooking with antique paisley

2. Beading (hooking with 2 colors)

3. Herringbone stitch

4. Hooking with roving

5. Quilling

6. Bird's eyes

7. Hit or miss

8. Proddy

and a bonus, folks...separating and hooking a striped fabric to make it work for you.

This will be kitted up with a linen pattern, all the woolens, and some hand-outs, all at one affordable price. It will only be available to the people who take my class.

I don't expect you to get the whole mat done in one day! But we will work on all the various techniques during class and then you can go home and finish it up. Sounds like fun? Yes, I think it does!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

It's my turn to challenge my blog sisters with some different types of materials. They should be getting their boxes today so I thought it was safe to show you what is in my magic box of tricks:

There is about a yard of nice Corriedale roving, some over-dyed Wensleydale curls, a couple yards of variegated blue and green yarn, a length of glittery craft cord, and a twig! Just like all the other projects, I have a general idea of what I might want to create. Last week-end I stopped by a yarn shop and unexpectedly got some inspiration! You'll see the results on February 20th!!!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Ali Strebel has posted her project so I am going to go ahead and post mine as well.....

as you remember, we were given these materials to work with:

When I saw the old lace, I had a general idea of what I wanted to do.

So here is what I came up with...

A little Valentine heart pillow! I was inspired by those candy hearts with the messages printed on them.

Back of pillow. The lace is used as trim around the outside.

Here are the words and you can see just a glimpse of the pink sari ribbon hooked around the edge.

I sewed the felted heart to my foundation and hooked a shadowed shape around it using the stretchy nylon and some purple sari ribbon I had in my stash. The purple sari ribbon was also hooked all the way around the outside edge of the pillow.

I appliqued two small hearts to the back of the pillow and the beads were sewn to the center of the hearts.

My personal challenge? Well, I don't use pink in my hooking so that was certainly a challenge (although the color I used was more of a coral-type pink)! Sewing up a heart-shaped pillow and attaching the lace trim in between the hooking and the wool backing was another small challenge. And I discovered that I love hooking with sari ribbon! I had bought a little from Ali Strebel in years past to keep in my stash and now I know I want to get some more...hope you have some more, Ali, because I'll be buying more from you!!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

I never get tired of Santa and here's proof...I've been working on this Santa rug for a workshop in Mississippi, coming up the first week of February:

There are several different techniques that I'll be teaching my class...hooking with roving (of course), how to hook eyes (and there are three of them here!) and sculpting. The holly berries are all hoved, which means they are sculpted from wool strips that have been pulled up high. They are actually 3-dimensional. And the pom pom on Santa's hat is also sculpted, but it is sculpted from roving. It's hard for me to say which materials I like to work with the most, but I do think perhaps the roving is a little easier to sculpt with. I'm also going to crochet wool strips around the edge to finish it and that will be another thing that will be taught in class.

I still don't have a name for this pattern...any suggestions???

And I am itching to return to my hooking on this......

My Midnight Clear rug! I had to set it aside to work on the other Santa rug, but now I'm anxious to get back to it. Everything was hooking up wonderfully and I couldn't be happier! The background is a mix of two navy plaid wools. I think they make a stunning midnight sky. It is important for the letters to pop (but not too loudly) so I chose a brighter blue plaid for them. I don't use a lot of blues when I color plan for myself but I love what I am using for this rug!

Of course, there is no rest for the weary! I'm ALSO working on my blog challenge project which is due on January 20th. Yikes! I'll be burning the midnight oil for sure because I am nowhere close to being finished! I don't even have enough done for a sneak peek yet...but I can tell you that it will have something to do with Valentine's day. LOL! So come back on Thursday to see what I have concocted.

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My name is Kris Miller and I am the owner of Spruce Ridge Studios. I specialize in delightful original rug hooking patterns and rug hooking supplies. I have loved textiles and making things by hand for as long as I can remember. I also love animals and I have an assortment of pampered sheep, an angora goat, alpacas, and a dog. Visit my website at www.spruceridgestudios.com